[1] While still in high school, Blue operated a shoeshine stand at the Trailways bus station.
The bus station was across from the Miller Brothers Ballroom, where Blue met Western swing musician Bob Wills.
[1] After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1949, Blue attended Bishop College for two years on a football and baseball scholarship, before he was drafted by the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
[1] After Blue was discharged from the army, he moved to Los Angeles to live with his sister and played local gigs.
His first road gig was with Lowell Fulson, and he spent the next few years working on and off with Roy Milton, Big Jim Wynn, and the T-Bone Walker Band.
[1] Blue's big break came when bandleader Ike Turner saw him around Los Angeles and asked him to join his band, the Kings of Rhythm.
While the revue had a residency in Las Vegas, he met Elvis Presley who was performing at the same hotel.
[1] Blue tried cocaine once, but it affected his sexual performance and so he decided not to do drugs, which led to his nickname "Country Bumpkin.